


Time to Fly

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Prompt Collection [34]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Butterflies, First Kiss, M/M, Made For Each Other, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 22:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: He tried, but he could never quite stop hoping, not even after Steve had shattered his arc reactor and put him on artificial life support for three weeks before the damage to his heart and lungs could be repaired with nano-tech and implants.In a world where only a handful of people even have soulmates Tony has long ago given up hope on being one of the chosen few. It's okay. He's here to protect the world, not to find the other half of his soul. Really. He doesn't need anyone.





	Time to Fly

**Author's Note:**

> @mistressstrange prompted me:  
>  _Prompt: You get wings when you find your soulmate. But, only when you know they love you back_
> 
> This was supposed to be short and sweet and became angsty as hell instead. Sorry?! It was time to make Tony suffer. But I gave him Stephen and the sweetest ending imaginable so I hope that counts for something. 😉

Tony had always known that he would never be one of the chosen few. His parents hadn't been, after all, and he had seen Edwin Jarvis and his wife Ana live in action. Their wings had been _beautiful_ , like an angel's - just like they themselves had been. True soulmates, meant to be together through war and the drama that was Howard Stark. They both had given up everything for each other and Tony had always admired that while even Howard had kept his disparaging remarks to a minimum when one of them was near him.

But Tony had heard them more than often enough. He'd listened. He looked at his parents and he knew that he was doomed to the same existence. He was a Stark, there was nobody who could ever be strong or worthy enough to be his true soulmate. 

Despite everything he found Rhodey first, and then Pepper. The hope had always been there, shyly peeking around the corner. It had never worked out, of course, but he found two friends who would and did go through hell and back with him. He knew that that kind of friendship was almost as rare as true soulmates and treasured them accordingly; even when he was busy testing it to the very breaking point.

He tried, but he could never quite stop hoping, not even after Steve had shattered his arc reactor and put him on artificial life support for three weeks before the damage to his heart and lungs could be repaired with nano-tech and implants.

The image of Steve standing above him, wings dramatically flared, while Barnes' wings were tightly curled around his body to keep himself together after the loss of his metal arm, would haunt him for the rest of his life, he just knew it.

 _Why him?_ he asked himself more than once. _Why does Steve fucking Rogers deserve a soulmate and I don't?_ What had Steve done right and Tony wrong? A question for the ages. Pepper had cried when he asked it, high on painkillers shortly after Siberia, while Rhodey had forced himself up from his chair to wrap him in the tightest hug possible.

And then they both had _apologized_ to him, which was complete bullshit, of course. It was Tony's fault, not theirs. _He_ was the broken one, not them.

*

The hope had died by the time Thanos arrived on Earth. Tony finally knew why he was alive and it wasn't for some fucked up romantic ideal only about two percent of the world population achieved in their lifetimes.

He was here to invent, protect and sacrifice himself for those more worthy than him. It had been a long and bitter road until he reached this conclusion and Pepper had cried once again when Tony finally let her go with all the good wishes in the universe. She was still a friend, a very good one, but nothing more. He didn't need or deserve anything more.

His conviction held until the moment he saw the newest person he'd failed to save turn to dust. Doctor Stephen Strange had managed to awake something in Tony that had been buried for longer than he could even remember and just like that the longing was back.

It had emerged, fully formed and ready to take over his whole being, the moment the helped the wizard - _Sorcerer!_ a deep and not really annoying voice corrected him instantly - up after he'd rescued him from being torn to shreds by countless needles.

 _Him. It's him_ , he thought a couple of hours later as he held on for far longer and more tightly than necessary to keep Strange grounded in the here and now after his seizure. The way Strange looked back at him awoke those mythical butterflies in his stomach but he resisted and shoved those thoughts away. Later, he'd deal with it all - and Strange - later. After Thanos.

But there was no later and by the time Tony was busy suffocating on a dying spaceship he only had a few memories of fleeting touch and the dust on his clothes. Nebula had had to drag him away from the remains of Peter and Stephen with brute force.

The last image his dying brain gifted him with was a hallucination of Stephen's ghost, desperately calling out to him to hold on, that help was on its way. He could almost feel an embrace that tried to hold him in this life. He let go with a smile and surrendered to the waiting darkness. 

"You. It's always been you," he whispered into the nothing of space before he finally lost consciousness for good. 

*

Stephen was the last one to come back, not that Tony was surprised. He'd learned a lot about the object of his longing since losing him and now knew that he was dealing with a drama queen on par with himself. 

"Welcome back, wizard," he greeted and offered his hand in helping Stephen up. It took Stephen a while to comprehend what Tony wanted but finally he put a shaking hand into Tony's. He made sure that his hold was strong but still gentle as he helped Stephen up. He didn't let go of his hand afterwards. Instead he looked at Stephen, trying to figure out if his fascination - _obsession_ , the voice corrected - might be reciprocated. "Are you okay?" he finally asked when nothing came and his euphoria threatened to become dread. He tried to let go of Stephen's hand but couldn't. Instead he took his free hand and settled it on Stephen's carotid artery. His pulse was strong and only a little bit faster than normal. The hand he was still holding was shaking like a leaf. "Stephen?"

Dread became panic but before he could do anything else Stephen suddenly dove forward and flung himself at Tony before almost strangling him with an embrace. Tony wasn't sure but he thought he could feel the wetness of tears on his skin. "St..."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I should never have. I didn't know. I should…"

 _Drama queen_ , Tony reminded himself as he tried to follow the incoherent babbling. 

"I love you. By the Vishanti, I love you. More than you can ever imagine."

Well, that wasn't incoherent. The butterflies where here again and threatening to take flight. Tony couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face as he adjusted his stance to take more of Stephen's weight and held on to him with all the strength the could muster. "I gather I did everything right then?" he finally asked and outright laughed at the disgusted look his question earned him. "Love you, too," he whispered back before Stephen could say anything else and ruin the moment with a bitchy comeback. "More than you can probably imagine."

Their first kiss happened right there and then, in the middle of a battlefield, hidden behind Stephen's magical carpet, surrounded by thousands of butterflies conjured up out of thin air by Stephen's magic and happiness. 

*

Despite everything Tony was surprised when he awoke on the next morning and felt something… _strange_ … on his back. He got up and in front of a mirror and proceeded to almost twist his neck in the desperate attempt to get a halfway decent look.

He stared in astonishment at the brand-new wings adorning his back. The looked like the wings of a butterfly and were in a breathtaking shade of turquoise mixed with grey that somehow reminded Tony of Stephen's eyes. He looked up from his contemplation when a still sleepy Stephen stumbled into view. After a moment of silent shock Stephen turned around to present his own - also butterfly wings, the most delicate and uncommon ones of them all, in deep brown and a shade of yellow that almost looked golden when the light hit them just right. Tony touched them with the greatest of care and delighted in the shudder his gentle touch evoked. It was his turn to shiver when Stephen touched his wings with trembling hands and even more tenderness before leaning down to kiss them in reverence. Tony returned the gesture a moment later before going down to his knees to worship Stephen in other, more traditional, ways.

They both were too old and their wings too fragile to sustain flight but that didn't matter. Thanks to technology and magic they had been flying solo for a long time but even that hadn't prepared them for the pure ecstasy of the moment when they first went up in the air together.

**Author's Note:**

> [original ask](https://amethyst-noir.tumblr.com/post/182628170076/prompt-you-get-wings-when-you-find-your-soulmate) 🦋 kudos and comments are love  
> 💞 Thank you for reading! 💞


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